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Official Tournament Rules

Here are the rules we used for the GenCon INWO tournaments. If you want
"Official Tournament Rules," use these.

The Head-To-Head Tournament. Single elimination, limited to the
first 256 players who sign up. The first round will be broken up into
two sessions (sessions at GenCon are 3-1/2 hours long), and two games
will be played in each session. Two more games are played in both
Rounds Two and Three, leaving four players for two games in the Final
Round. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place. The new
Two-Player Rules in the Unlimited Edition rulebook will be in
effect. (see below).

The Multi-Player Tournament. Five players per table, limited to
the first 250 players who sign up. Winners, shared victories and ties
all advance, so some tables may have six players in later rounds. In
Round Three, the top three finishers at each table (there will only be
two tables at this point) advance to the Final Round. Prizes will be
awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place.

The "One With Everything" Event. This is a one-shot event, limited
to the first 80 players who sign up, played five to a table, with
prizes for winners at each table. Factory Sets to play with will be
provided by Steve Jackson Games.

The "Sealed Deck" Event. This is a one-shot event, limited to the
first 80 players who sign up, played five to a table, with prizes for
winners at each table. Each player must bring his own
factory sealedINWO Starter Set. The sets will be opened at
the beginning of the session, and players have 30 minutes to sort
their cards and prepare a deck. No trading between players is
allowed. The ultimate test of deck-building and playing skills!

Rules for the two tournaments (and by extension, all convention INWO
tournaments everywhere) are as follows:

Official INWO Tournament Rules

The game will be played according to the most recent edition of
the INWO rulebook, as
amended by any official errata
published by Steve Jackson Games, except where the rules below take
precedence.

A Tournament Deck must contain exactly 45 cards.

Cards may be from any edition -- Limited,
Unlimited, or the Factory Set. Our
tournaments are designed for people to display skill in deck-building,
gameplay and general sneakiness -- not for the Mr. Suitcases of the
world.

Cards from the German edition of INWOmay be
used following the guidelines described in
INWO Spricht Deutsch.

Cards may not be marked in any permanent way. Exception: Small
sticky tags (often called Post-ItTM Brand Notes) may
be used to note changes in the Power or Resistance of a Group as
circumstances change, to note the ownership of a card that changes
hands, or to give a name to a Media Sensation.

The actual INWO cards must be used -- no proxies. Players may
protect their cards in plastic sleeves, provided:

All cards in the deck use identical sleeves

The sleeves are clean and unmarked

No other players at the table object

The Tournament Referee may require a player to un- sleeve his cards
(or place them in new sleeves) if the old sleeves are dirty, sticky or
otherwise marked, or if other players object. Other players at the
table may shuffle sleeved sets of cards before the game starts. Other,
bulkier protection (lucite holders come to mind) are not permitted.

Foreign language edition INWO cards may be used in a deck for the fun
of it, provided:

the card has an English-language equivalent (cards unique to
foreign language editions may not balance with the original version)

the player has a copy of the original version on hand so that
players can read the English text and know exactly what the card does

If the foreign version of a card has information that differs from its
English-language counterpart, then the English-language rules
apply.

Players can bring as many cards as they like to the tournament,
and change cards (or entire decks) freely between rounds, but once a
Tournament Deck has been placed on the table at the beginning of a
round and declared ready, that's it -- no changes, substitutions or
trades from that point up to the moment the game begins.

Cards may be given to other players during the course of a game
as per the INWO rules, except that exchanges during a Tournament are
never permanent -- all cards are returned to their original owners at
the end of the round.

The Tournament Referee reserves the right to void a card trade
(if other players at the table challenge it -- the Ref will not butt
in when not asked) if, in his opinion, the trade is part of an effort
by several players working together to advance one of their number to
a subsequent round. This is very Illuminated, and we would normally be
very amused, but this simply isn't fair to the poor sap who happens to
get placed at a table full of friends who are colluding to make sure
one of their own moves on. It's every conspirator for himself ...
Shared victories are OK; players sacrificing themselves so a friend
can advance isn't.

If negotiations drag on too long, any player at a table can call
the Tournament Referee over to get things moving. If convinced the
request is legitimate, the Ref will impose a 1-minute time limit to
conclude negotiations; after that the player whose turn it is must
take an Action or pass the remainder of his turn.

The Order of Play is subject to the ''Oops Rule''. If a player
forgets to do something in the turn sequence (like draw his Plot
Cards, or make his automatic takeover, or whatever), he may not go
back and correct his error, unless the other players at the table
unanimously allow him to. Players are encouraged to cut each other
slack during the game, but they don't have to ... at the risk of
making a permanent enemy, of course.

Profanity, abuse, violence and other disruptive behavior will
result in a player's expulsion from the tournament. The Tournament
Referee's word is final on this matter. Period.

GenCon games will be played to the standard victory conditions of
11 groups, though tournaments elsewhere may be played to a different
number -- higher for longer, more challenging games, or lower for
quicker contests. If time still runs out without a winner, a
Percentage of Goal system (see below) will be used to determine the
winner. This system will also be used to determine 2nd and 3rd places
in the semi-finals and finals, the game ending the moment the winner
meets his victory conditions.

Whatever else comes up, the Tournament Referee's word is final.

Percentage of Goal Scoring System

Simply put, if nobody has achieved a victory condition when time
expires (and the referee will give ample warning that the time limit
is approaching), then play freezes when time is called and a winner is
determined. (If time is called after an attack is announced but before
the dice are rolled, then the dice must be rolled immediately; no
further negotiation, playing of Plot Cards or spending of Action
Tokens may occur. You roll the dice as the attack stands, and live
with the consequences.) Each player receives a percentage score (taken
to as many decimals as needed to determine a winner) based on the
best of the following factors:

Number of groups controlled (taking into account any special
bonuses, including those from goal cards in play), as a percentage of
the goal. Example: The Gnomes control six groups (one of which counts
double because it is a Bank of Power 4 or greater) plus the Illuminati
group, for a total of 8. The announced victory condition was 11
groups. The Gnomes player's percentage is 72.7%.

Percentage of other special goals achieved, including those from
Goal Cards already exposed (Goal Cards still in the deck, or hidden
in the hand, do not qualify). Example: There are 27 Power
worth of Peaceful groups in play on the table when time is called.
Shangri-La needs 30 to win, so the Shangri-La player's percentage is 90%.

When a special goal has two parts (as with the Bermuda Triangle
and several Goal cards), the percentage is determined by averaging the
different percentages, with 100% the maximum for either part. Example:
Bermuda Triangle needs all 10 alignments and 35 Power in its
structure; at the end of the game, they have 8 alignments and 33
Power. Their percentage would be 80% averaged with 94.3%, or 87.1%. If
Bermuda had 8 alignments and 38 Power, it would not get a bonus for
the ''extra'' Power; the percentage would be 80% averaged with 100%,
or 90%.

If two (or more) players' Percentage of Goal are identical -- or,
as in the case with Shagri-La, two or more players reach the same
victory condition simultaneously -- the tiebreaker will be total
number of Groups in the player's structure (including those that may
count double).

If there is still a tie, then both players advance (in
preliminary rounds). If prizes are at stake, then the players can
agree to a coin flip or other random determination to see who gets the
higher-place prize, or they can take joint possession of the prizes
for the two places and divide them up any way they care to. If two
people tie for first, they jointly get the prizes for first and
second; if they tie for second, they jointly get the prizes for second
and third; and so on.

2-Player Rules

Two-player games -- especially in tournament play -- can lend
themselves to quick-kill strategies or "degenerate" decks that would
be easy to counter in a multi-player game. The following rules are
official for two-player tournament games, and suggested for all
two-player play:

Play to no less than 12 groups.

Neither player may attack the other until each has taken a full
turn; Player 2 can't jump instantly on Player 1.

Eliminate the "automatic takeover" phase. Except for the puppet
that you start the game with, no group may be taken over without a die
roll. To take over a Resource, spend your Illuminati token -- no more
than one per turn.

A Note On Trading

In a sealed-deck tournament, pre-game trading can be a lot of fun. Why
did we specifically rule it out for our official tourney? Because it
can also take a long time. If you're organizing a tournament,
and you want to allow an extra hour or so for card-trading, more power
to you!